Updates, advisories and surprises

(10:09 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings
LH, -1.87%
fell as much as 4% Friday after the company's latest sales numbers fell short of Wall Street expectations. Before the opening bell the Burlington, N.C.-based company, which provides a wide range of medical test services, reported a fourth-quarter profit of $135.4 million, or $1.34 a share. Adjusted to exclude one-time items the company earned $1.56 a share, topping the $1.51 a share analysts were looking for. But revenue for the quarter came in at $1.366 billion. Analysts had been expecting $1.38 billion, raising concern that the improved earnings reflected financial leverage rather than organic growth. Laboratory Corp. shares were last down 3.9% at $88.21, nearly unchanged from where they were trading a year ago.

XL shares down 7% on surprise loss

(10:00 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of insurer XL Group PLC
XL, +0.20%
were the second-biggest percentage decliner on the S&P 500
SPX, -1.42%
Friday morning. The stock fell 7% to $19.61. XL posted a surprise operating loss of 25 cents a share for the fourth quarter, hit by higher catastrophe losses and an impairment charge. Analysts had expected an operating profit of 16 cents. XL and other insurers have been affected by the devastating floods in Thailand as well as the earthquake that rocked Japan last year. Friday's decline puts XL shares down 16% over the last 12 months.

Lab Corp. profit rises, sets $500 million buyback

(8:00 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Laboratory Corp.
LH, -1.87%
said Friday its fourth-quarter profit increased to $135.4 million, or $1.34 a share, from $131.8 million, or $1.26 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted profit rose to $1.56 a share from $1.46 a share. Sales moved up by 5.5% to $1.37 billion. Wall Street analysts expected the company to earn $1.51 a share on sales of $1.37 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research. Laboratory Corp. OK'd a $500 million stock buyback program. Looking ahead, the company expects adjusted 2012 earnings of $6.75 to $7.05 a share, compared to the Wall Street estimate of $6.93 a share.

LyondellBasell swings to loss

(7:45 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- LyondellBasel Industries N.V.
LYB, -0.38%
said on Friday that its fourth-quarter loss of $128 million, or 38 cents a share, compared to a profit of $766 million, or $1.34 a share a year ago. Sales during the quarter were $11.44 billion, compared to $13.30 billion a year ago.

PPL profit rises 13%

(7:32 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- PPL Corp.
PPL, -2.52%
said Friday its fourth-quarter profit rose to $401 million, or 69 cents a share, from $355 million, or 73 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings totaled 70 cents a share in the latest quarter. Wall Street analysts expected PPL to earn 62 cents a share, according to a survey by FactSet Research. Looking ahead, PPL expects 2012 earnings of $2.15 to $2.45 a share, compared to the analyst estimate of $2.42 a share. At the end of the fourth quarter, PPL had 579 million shares of average shares outstanding, up from 483 million.

Europe stocks drop on Greece worries, banks drag

(3:18 AM ET) MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets opened lower on Friday, after euro-zone finance ministers held off on approving a fresh tranche of aid for Greece late the prior day. Banks led the Stoxx Europe 600 index(XX:SXXP)down 0.6% to 261.97. Shares of Barclays PLC(UK:BARC)
BCS, +4.85%
fell over 2% after it reported a fall in full-year profit. The French CAC 40 index(FR:PX1)fell 0.7% to 3,402.33, while the German DAX 30 index(DX:DAX)also fell 0.7% to 6,744.60, with BNP Paribas SA(FR:BNP)down 2.5% and Commerzbank AG(DE:CBK)off 5.3%. The FTSE 100 index(UK:UKX)fell 0.4% to 5,869.85, as resource stocks also fell, with Anglo American PLC(UK:AAL)down 1.8% and BP PLC(UK:BP)
BP, -1.85%
down 1.2% as commodities prices also eased.

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